In the second of three articles, DEIDRE WILD examines the stressors and stress faced by health professionals deployed in the Gulf

Last month’s Emergency Nurse article by Wild (2003) presented literature concerning the potential stressors and stresses of going to war, pre-deployment to war in general and the Gulf War (GW) of 1991 in particular. Attention now turns to the next phase of participation in warfare, deployment, in which preparations for and anticipations of warfare come to fruition. The literature focuses on the deployment experience of GW medical, nursing and paramedical veterans. It addresses the uniqueness of the war, its environmental and potential health stressors, protective measures, occupational and ethical challenges, and conventional and unconventional weaponry stressors.